“Between-the-Brooks Mountain”

Photo #1 shows the feature I have dubbed “Between-the-Brooks Mountain”, as the topographical map shows unnamed brooks on both sides: the one to the north (left) has already been seen below the “knuckles”; the one to the right (south) will be seen below. From this distance directly off shore, it was impossible for my camera to capture both of the brook mouths and the mountain in between, so neither brook mouth is actually visible in this photo, though the valleys each has carved can be seen at the far left and far right of the photo. Google Earth shows that these brook valleys rise sharply as they proceed inland and that the source of the brooks is on the highest portion of the plateau well inland; the topographical map does not extend their courses much further inland than the ridge across the centre of the photo. In any case, the mountain seen here connects directly to, and is part of, the Cape Breton Highlands Plateau and is defined as a feature by the two brook valleys which delimit it at the coast. As was the case with the “knuckles”, the mountain closest to the water is considerably lower than the plateau inland, though a bit higher than the “knuckles”. The mountain is largely forested above the cliffs which drop fairly sharply into the Gulf, though there are large areas of gravel/dirt/rubble both on the northwest and west sides. Although there is a greenish tint indicating moss or grass colonization, there is no room for a coastal plain except at the far left and that is not very wide.

Photo #2 looks at the north flank of “Between-the-Brooks Mountain”; only a small part of the “knuckles” is showing at the far left of the photo; the unnamed brook enters the Gulf at the far left of the photo just outside its scope and travels around and behind the north flank in the valley it has carved between the high ridge in the centre and the north flank of the mountain. An oddly shaped gravel/dirt/rubble pile is just right of centre in the photo; it is hard to tell whether it continues higher up below the cliff faces at the upper right where one can make out a break in the trees; if so, perhaps there is an intermittent stream of water that keeps it open, as there appears to be on the side of the “knuckles”. In the open space at the bottom right above the cliffs at the water, the soil cover is very thin, with protruding rocks through much of the area; the greenish tint does not appear at high magnification to be primarily grass and lots of rocks and small boulders are strewn atop the surface.

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Photo #3 looks pretty much dead-on at the western flank of “Between-the-Brooks Mountain”. The tree-covered ridge at the far left overlaps with the far right of photo #2. The considerably higher part of the plateau behind the ridge seen here is hidden by the too-close proximity to the shore. The majority of the exposed rocks appear to be reddish-hued, though there are grey rocks interspersed, particularly at the water level. The large expanses of gravel/dirt/rubble below the ridge are very visible across much of the photo, though, if they be present, are pretty well hidden below the ridge at the far left. Under magnification, the brighter green areas above the cliffs at the shore are clearly grass, while the lighter coloured green could also be grass (its hues are brighter than those seen at the left of photo #2). The exposed rocks at the middle right are clearly the result of relatively recent erosion, likely from run-off descending from above.

Photo #4 shows the southern flank of “Between-the-Brooks Mountain”. The southern unnamed brook enters the Gulf about a third of the way in from the right; the valley it has carved can be seen here. The ridge below the bright clouds right of centre is on the south side of the brook and continues inland to the higher portion of the plateau. The slope on the south side of the brook inland has a cliff face along its upper edge and large gravel/dirt/rubble piles below, but forest has successfully colonized the south side as it nears the Gulf. This view makes it clear that there are two ridges on “Between-the-Brooks Mountain”, the nearer one, which is a bit lower, and the higher one further behind; in photo #3 it is difficult to see that they are distinct. Even as high as the topmost peak appears here, it is still 80 m (260 ft) lower than the plateau further inland.

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Photo #5 shows the valley of the unnamed brook delimiting the southern side of “Between-the-Brooks Mountain”. Under magnification, the brook is seen to be dry, though the bed appears to have been recently wet. The little white mark that I initially mistook for flowing water proves just to be an intrusion of greyish-white rock in the darker black of the rocks on either side. I took two other photos of this brook mouth and the brook appears equally without water in each of them. It was, after all, a very dry summer. In this view, hints of cliff faces can be seen along the far right of the top of the ridge above the brook on the south side, but they cannot be very sheer, as trees nearly completely cover them over.

Photo #6 looks back at the “knuckles” and “Between-the-Brooks Mountain” from nearly directly off the mouth of Lower Delaneys Brook. This sidewise view shows what the previous photos could not: the added height directly behind the summit of “Between-the-Brooks Mountain” seen from dead on. And even the highest ridge visible in this photo is still not as high as the plateau further inland.